There was a total disregard by the band for the future of their careers with this gig to launch their debut album WORLDS STRONGEST BAND as they rightly pointed out, possibly every one of their Edinburgh fans were in Sneaky Pete's for this gig of chaotic energy, humourously written songs and all round good times. Thankfully there were no catastrophic events to wipe out their east coast fan base.
I went to this on my own but only in a minute before bumping into Campbell and Malky, two fellow giggers who I only ever see at gigs (quite often though it has to be said) and catch up chat between sets covered profiteering ticket sellers (fees, fees, fees!), pain in the arse record labels and sub-conscious bias towards artists because of the bands they've been in.
The Hens played their album in full (and other tracks) over a frantic hour of organised chaos and through the "fourth member" of the band (a pre-recorded bank of stock monologue, also used in an ad-hoc way for witty banter with the crowd). For fans of the band, such as I am since seeing them play last year's Stag and Dagger festival, the now familiar tracks about wankers from school, asking Devo for a support slot (and a subsequent song about not getting a support slot with Devo), working in Tesco, your favourite band being on drugs again, arguing with the guy from Sleaford Mods and telling Philip to fuck off (the whole crowd joining on with enthusiasm). All played well and all massively appreciated.
I love the humour of their song ideas, the DIY punk energy of their sound and seemingly chaotic nature of their live set but it does overshadow the level of musicianship these lads have, They couldn't be as good as they are without it.
Other than the music, their onstage shenanigans are numerous. From the random wheel of...whatever that was, where they invited crowd members up ons rage to help select songs, to shooting apples off each others heads across stage, best bass line on the world ever awards and playing the guitar with a drill. You'd be hard pressed to see anything like any of these things at a gig let alone all of this. Did I mention the numerous confetti cannons? There were plenty. And bananas.
Michael M provided the perfect support. A similar style of approach to songs, his material was poppy, punky and very enjoyable. His banter with the crowd was great (especially for his first ever Edinburgh show). And his subject matters for songs equally out there. He recently found out he can't smell flowers (previously thought they didn't have a smell and folk were lying to him who said they were), songs about his dad - making him dog his own grave but he found treasure while doing it, ghosts watching him have sex in the dark and what he'd do in the event of a nuclear war. Surprisingly funny stuff for such dark material
So the Bens album is out there now (go buy it! And a t-shirt !) and as part of the Kickstarter I chipped in for I'm looking forward to hearing the cover version of a Chas N Dave classic I requested as part of the bundle I went with. I'll put that on the Sideboard beside my Ben's T-shirts and copy of the album. Brilliant stuff
WOBTEP!